The Kent Reporter athletes of the week for the week of April 4 are from Kentwood; Logan Luu (Sr.) soccer, Joe Francis-Rodrigues (Sr.) fastpitch.
What do you value in your sport or about your team?
Francis-Rodrigues: I value good sportsmanship, communication, and accountability. I not only value this in myself, but my team. We should be able to trust each other so we can be a better team.
Luu: I value the importance of teamwork. No matter how talented we are individually, trust and support are what make us successful. Accountability also plays a big role—great teams push each other to be better every day, on and off the field.
What have you learned from your sport that you can take with you throughout your life/future?
Francis-Rodrigues: What I learned from my sport is being able to have resilience, teamwork, and leadership. Being able to overcome setbacks and pushing through allows me to have a better mindset on and off the field. Teamworks prepare me to be able to work with large groups. Strong leadership can motivate others and promotes responsibility.
Luu: I’ve learned resilience and adaptability. I tore my ACL twice and went from scoring goals as a forward to saving them as a goalkeeper—all to keep playing the game I love.
What do you do when you aren’t motivated and what helps you stay motivated?
Francis-Rodrigues: What helps me stay motivated is surrounding myself with people who want it just as much as I do. what motivates me is telling myself why I started playing this sport in the beginning and why I love this sport so much.
Luu: I remind myself why I started playing in the first place.
Do you have a favorite pre-game meal?
Francis-Rodrigues: Favorite pre game meal is fruits or chipotle!
Luu: Chipotle, about six hours before an evening game.
What advice would you give to a teammate that is struggling?
Francis-Rodrigues: Advice that I would give a struggling teammate is that every athlete has their moments. You just need to learn how you overcome them. Focus on progress not perfection and always stay positive. Embrace the struggles, struggling is a part of growth.
Luu: Every athlete goes through rough patches, whether mental or physical. It’s normal. Keep believing in yourself, put in the work, and confidence will return.
From the sidelines:
Joe has stepped into a leadership role this season. She has done everything we have asked of her while working her tail off. She has been leading the younger girls in warmups, and fielding drills. She is currently hitting .429 and fielding 1.000.
Luu: Luu is a hardworking, driven to succeed young man. He also positively motivates his teammates. These both overlap On and Off the soccer field. His soccer knowledge is most definitely above average for a high school player, and with this added advantage he is able to communicate the needs of the situations to his teammates. Lastly, Logan has most generously stepped into the Goalkeeper role this year and done an exceptional job in this early part of our season.
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